Biggest Winners and Losers from Golf's 'Challenge Season'
Golf's "Challenge Season" can be a challenge for golf fans to maintain an interest in.
In an environment after the Ryder Cup where it seems there's a minor PGA Tour event and at least one European or Asian Tour event every week, there's a lot to pay attention to.
Who were the winners and losers of the tail end of the professional golfing calendar year? Click through to see.
Winner: Henrik Stenson
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38-year-old Henrik Stenson fired a final-round 70 at the DP World Championship in Dubai thanks to birdies on his final two holes.
Stenson captured the European Tour's season-ending tournament for the second year in a row.
After the win, the Swede said, "I had a couple of close calls this year to get my win and it was not to be. It's been close but eventually you get something if you stick around and I surely did that" (per BBC Sport).
The victory salvaged a disappointing year for Stenson in which he didn't win on the PGA Tour and recorded just three top-10 finishes.
Loser: Patrick Reed
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Patrick Reed was a big loser in the post-Ryder Cup portion of the tour season. That fact is unfortunate, considering that Reed did much to redeem himself in the court of public opinion at Gleneagles with his passionate play and 3-0-1 record.
That good work, however, was undone when Reed let slip a homophobic epithet in range of microphones at the CIMB Classic.
Reed has rightfully gotten a lot of negative attention for the outburst and restored his reputation for not thinking through the things that come out of his mouth, which he codified following his win at the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral.
Winner: Rory McIlroy
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Rory McIlroy didn't have a brilliant finish to his 2013-2014 season. After his PGA Championship victory, McIlroy tied for second at the Tour Championship, but didn't do much beyond that.
He did, however, win the European Tour's Race to Dubai for the second time in three years. Entering the DP World Championship, McIlroy lead second-place Henrik Stenson by more than $2.7 million in the season-long competition, which assured him that regardless of what Stenson did, the title was his.
As McIlroy said: "That four-week spell over the summer, from the Open to the US PGA Championship, would have to be the best golf of my life" (per Golf.com).
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Loser: Those Thinking Dustin Johnson Was Gone for Good
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If you doubted whether Dustin Johnson would be in the appropriate headspace to again compete in a PGA Tour event, it looks like your concerns are without merit.
Johnson has been preparing diligently for his return.
As Tim Rosaforte recently wrote for Golf Digest:
"Dustin Johnson's "personal challenges," now involve how many miles he is going to cycle, how many balls he's going to hit, what it's going to be like as a father, and how many days before his return to professional golf.
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According to Rosaforte, Johnson plans to return to golf at the Farmers Insurance Open at the beginning of February.
Winner: Ryan Moore
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Like Henrik Stenson, Ryan Moore won the same event for the second-consecutive season.
Moore was victorious at the CIMB Classic. Indeed, this was the third year in a row that Moore won an event during the tour's fall events.
Moore fired a final-round 67 to win the tournament in Malaysia by three strokes.
Loser: Ian Poulter
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Ian Poulter couldn't get the job done at the Turkish Airlines Open. After leading the competition through two rounds, he fired a miserable third-round 75 and saw his lead erased. A final-round 71 wasn't good enough to get the job done as Brooks Koepka took the title.
Poulter is in the midst of a full-fledged putting (and brain, apparently) meltdown. After a third-round 70 at the DP World Championship, the Englishman tweeted: "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh 1 more round for 2014. Brain is on melt down. Putter hunting for 2015."
That's not the sound of happiness. And apparently Greg Norman's putting tips aren't working...
Winner: Tiger Woods
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Tiger Woods hired a new swing coach and is getting ready to step back in the ring at his Hero World Challenge December 1.
On November 22, Woods tweeted, "Happy to have Chris Como consulting and working with me on my swing. I’m excited to be back competing."
"Como, 36, is based near Dallas and in 2013 was named by Golf Digest as one of "the best young teachers." He has a Masters degree in biomechanics, which perhaps suggests that Woods will continue with some of the theories he engaged under Sean Foley," wrote ESPN's Michael Collins.
Gearing up for competition with a new "swing consultant" in his stable, Tiger Woods is a winner heading into the holiday layoff.
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